A Minnetonka real estate broker whose “get rich slow” investment scheme persuaded lenders to issue more than $6 million in loans based on fraudulent applications should be disciplined by the Department of Commerce, an administrative law judge decided this month.
The department had suspended Steven R. Carver ’s real estate licenses in July until a judge could rule on the allegations.
Carver and his company Carver & Associates Real Estate led seminars in the mid-2000s that recruited “no money down” investors to act as buyers in rental property purchases. He inflated purchase prices and buyers received kickbacks at closing that they used to make down payments on those or additional properties, the judge’s decision said. Many of those properties went into foreclosure.
Carver gave false information to the state on three separate license applications and owes $155,000 in real-estate-related judgments, the judge found.
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